Colts preseason games: Irsay guarantees local TV

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has issued the first guarantee of the season: His team's preseason home games will be televised locally.

"Sales are brisk 4 both Home Pre-Season Games so I guarantee 100% neither game will be blacked out so the media talking about it is pointless," Irsay wrote Thursday on Twitter.

The possibility of home games being blacked out in the Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Terre Haute and Lafayette television markets is the result of about 1,600 season tickets remaining at 62,421-seat Lucas Oil Stadium. Home games must be sold out 72 hours prior to kickoff for them to be available on local television.

The Colts, who haven't had a game blacked out since 2003, will start selling single-game tickets Tuesday.

Tickets priced at $48, $58, $79, $109 and $136 for the eight regular-season games will be available starting at 10 a.m. at the stadium box office and through Ticketmaster. Most of the available tickets are in the upper deck.

Tickets for the Oct. 7 game against Green Bay are available only as part of a two-game package that includes the Aug. 30 preseason game with Cincinnati.

Although there are 1,600 unsold tickets, that's not the number available next week.

"We've got some group commitments we're finalizing," Chief Operating Officer Pete Ward said. "It's not going to be 1,600 tickets. It will be less depending on the game."

The Colts open the preseason at home Aug. 12 against St. Louis. Their regular-season home opener is Sept. 16 against Minnesota.

The team is confident it will sell out the home schedule and keep its streak of consecutive sellouts, which stands at 79. The Colts have sold out 113 of their past 114 regular-season and postseason games.

"There are so few tickets left," Ward said. "It's never done till it's done, but from experience, when you get (down) to a certain level, you usually get there."

Mike Chappell

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Colts preseason games: Irsay guarantees local TV

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has issued the first guarantee of the season: His team's preseason home games will be televised locally.